As Ivy League-educated pediatrician Robert P. Lindeman sat on the stand in Suffolk Superior Court this month, defending himself in a malpractice suit involving the death of a 12-year-old patient, the opposing counsel startled him with a question.

Was Lindeman Flea?"

What kind of question is that?

Oh I get it. It's not in quotes.

Reading further along it's explained more clearly:

Shortly before the end of his second day on the witness stand, while focusing on Lindeman's views of a pediatric textbook, Mulvey asked him whether he had a medical blog, she recalled. He said he did. Then she asked him if he was Flea. He said he was.

I wonder if I'm the only person who read this, thinking that "Was Lindeman Flea?" was the question.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

This is very timely since I'm trying out a lot of the services he mentions in his list.

Like blogging and web video before it, live broadcasting is becoming popular because the tools are finally available in an easy to use package.

Prior to this you had to sign up for QuickTime broadcasting with a hosting service and some hosting companies didn't even provide it. That's why I never used it other than suggesting it to conference organizers.

Now, with web based solutions that only require a webcam or cellphone, lots of people will start experimenting.

If it was January 1st, I'd call 2007 the Year of LIVE Video. But since it's almost June I guess I could say that 2007 is the half-a-Year of LIVE Video. ;-)

I've recently unsubscribed from two of the presidential candidate's email lists because is seemed like it was just a constant stream of requests for contributions to their campaign, wrapped around current issues.

The most personal way the candidates have begun to communicate with me is via Twitter. Twitter is an easy to use group instant messaging tool which allows you to send out 140 character text messages to your friends. You can send and receive these messages on the web or on your cell phone.

"Thrilled to be in Iowa with Elizabeth and the kids…working with Iowans to support our troops and bring them home."

He's made 36 updates since signing on to Twitter. He also has staffers twitter for him and notes this by putting (from staff) in front of the message. That's the kind of transparency from a candidate I like to see.

What I want is a personal connection to the candidates. Twitter makes me feel like I get that.

Update:The preceding quote is in this article on BostonNOW, and this post is linked to from there. Very cool for a newpaper/online site to link to a blog post from someone who was interviewed for a story.

Friday, May 25, 2007

"I found it interesting that you don’t have to always order low fat salad dressing. After the shoot I go to eat the Arctic Char. It was amazing. I got so caught up in the filming of the episode, I asked Nina waht kind of salmon it was because it tasted so good. She told me that it was Arctic Char. HA! I really enjoyed it.

Technical notes: This episode was filmed using a Nokia N93. It records at 640 x 480 30 frames per second. I converted the .mp4 files to QuickTime .mov files using MPEG Streamclip, then edited the video with Final Cut Pro. When done editing, I exported using Compressor at 320�240 H.264 and uploaded to blip.tv. Blip.tv then converts the video to Flash and cross-posts... to Spices of Life."

Thursday, May 24, 2007

On Your Host ex: 1and1.comSetup the site you want to createGo to control panel and add the domain, add it as an "external domain", meaning it's registered elsewhereGet the name server IPs from your host

The Wall Street Journal wrote an article about me and my mom, Using YouTube for Posterity. They misrepresented the facts. They made stuff up in their account of my mother and my relationship to fit in with the theme of the story.

This is the part of the article about us, which isn't freely available online at the WSJ:

"While some are looking to trace back through decades of history or document big events, others are recording more mundane moments. To help preserve her memory, 81-year-old Millie Garfield of Swampscott, Mass., decided to feature herself in a series of videos documenting one of her... son Steve's pet peeves - namely, her persistent requests for his help opening coffee cans, rethreading dental floss or opening other tightly sealed bottles. Steve, a video producer in Boston, has helped her film and post the series, called "I Can't Open This," on a blog, Mymoms blog.blogspot.com, and on YouTube. Millie's friends - and random users who find the clips through searches - have posted comments like "Those pesky plastic containers, they are a pain.""

Let's take a look at what was printed and the actual facts:

"To help preserve her memory, 81-year-old Millie Garfield of Swampscott, Mass., decided to feature herself in a series of videos"

WRONG

My mom didn't decide to do these videos to preserve her memory. Idecided to do them to capture fleeting moments. My mom usually sayswriting a blog helps keep her mind healthy.

"documenting one of her... son Steve's pet peeves"

WRONG

Helping my mom open stuff is a pleasure and in no way a petpeeve.. I never said that.

"namely, her persistent requests"

WRONG

This makes my mom sound like she is always complaining andasking for help.

WRONG

She saves up items for whenever I visit.

"Steve, a video producer in Boston, has helped her film and post the series, called "I Can't Open This," on a blog, Mymomsblog.blogspot.com, and on YouTube."

WRONG

The title of the videoblog series is "I Can't Open It"

When I was first misrepresented by the Wall Street Journal, I called the reporter. She left a message with me explaining why she wrote the story the way she did.

THE REPORTER RESPONDS"I am deeply sorry that the final wording didn't come out as you liked. Pet peeve was not meant to be negative and it wasn't in quotes. Your mom and I did have a very thoughtful discussion about what the series means to her in terms of preserving her memory. She brought up and you once gave her a book to encourage her to write her memoirs and that she never got to that and appreciated this as an alternative. I read her back the section Monday afternoon."

This isn't right. So if it isn't in quotes, reporters can make stuff up? Neither my mother nor myself ever said the words 'pet peeve'. It's not in our vocabulary. It mis-characterizes our relationship. The reporter didn't get it. She didn't get us. It's wrong and should be changed.

Just because my mother agrees, after the fact, that the videos will be like her memoirs, that doesn't change the FACT that these videos were not started for that reason and that I decided to record them and not her.

If the Wall Street Journal can't even get the facts right in a human interest story, what are they doing on the real news?

IT'S NOT FREE ONLINE ANYWAYI stopped trying to get it corrected thinking that the article didn't need any more visibility by my posting it to my blog. It's behind a paid firewall anyway so not many people will ever see it.

"We have fun with it and it captures our relationship," says Steve Garfield, who also has his own video blog. "I am very proud of her."

The erroneous article was now out in public.

Syndicated in all it's dis-informational glory for all to see.

And it was spreading.

You see, even the title of the article is incorrect. That's my point. We didn't go online to save a legacy. We went on line for fun. That's the lede of the story and our truth was changed to match the storyline. It's not right.

And how can I correct the story on the Myrtle Beach Sun News site. Let's look at my options:

Email, print, reprint or license, AIM, del.icio.us or Digg it

Nothing there allows me to comment. No way to email the author or contact the paper for a correction.

I wrote to them:

Hi,You reprinted a story from the Wall Street Journal that has factual errors in it.

I have not been able to get the Wall Street Journal to agree to corrrect the errors in the story and now they are syndicating the story and you have posted it to the web.

“This nation needs a leader with a proven track record and an ability to bring people together to tackle our problems here at home and abroad,” he said. “I am that person - not because I say so, but because of what I have done.”

And, unlike the git who holds the office now, he’s done it all. Given the utter incompetence and failure of the current administration, a hard-working politician like Richardson, who has come up through the ranks on his own, toiled as a staffer, a member of Congress, a diplomat, a cabinet sec’y, and now a very successful and progressive governor, would restore credibility to the office of the president.

When you look at the field of Democrats running, it’s hard to imagine any of them as ready for the job as the NM governor is. No president has inherited a worse mess since Andrew Johnson took the oath of office after Lincoln’s assassination, so there’s no time for on-the-job training. Richardson is the only candidate who doesn’t need it. "

"There is not ‘a’ civil war in Iraq, but many civil wars and insurgencies involving a number of communities and organizations struggling for power, according to a damning report released today by the independent British think tank Chatham House.

The author Dr Gareth Stansfield states that the surge is not curbing the high level of violence, and improvements in security cannot happen in a matter of months."

The Family Winemakers lawsuit against the State of Massachusetts, on behalf of its member wineries, continues to progress. FWC sued to overturn the state's 30,000-gallon production cap, which prevents many out-of-state wineries from shipping to Massachusetts consumers. The case is expected to go to summary judgment in early fall 2007. Click here to view the complaint.

"DENVER—Family and friends attending a two-hour birthday dinner for 26-year-old Josh Kebbekus at The Cheesecake Factory yesterday concluded their meal by watching a slide show of themselves ordering drinks, talking, eating, and taking photos of one another.

'Look, here we are waiting for our table,' said Kebbekus' older sister Rebecca, one of the six attendees who had brought digital cameras to the event. 'Oh, here's Josh with that yummy cheesecake we had. And here's another one of the cheesecake.'"

This video is authentic and unedited. Captured on a Nokia N95 cellphone, that I'm evaluating for Nokia, I uploaded the videos to blip.tv, which automatically converted the .mp4 videos to flash and cross-posted them to my video blog.

It's easy to create this type of video and I'd enjoy seeing video like this from the candidates running for president.

Friday, May 18, 2007

"...we are more connected than ever before and have more access to more information and more tools for identifying and solving problems than any generation in American history, thanks to the Internet.

As we prepare to pick the next President, we’d like to challenge all the candidates running to tell America: How should this public resource be used to make our country more competitive, more democratic, healthier, better educated, more secure and financially sound?"

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Steve Across America lands in NYC today for lunch with Scoble, a meeting at CBS, then a speakers reception for the Personal Democracy Forum which is on Friday.

At the Personal Democracy Forum I'll be presenting Videoblogging in 5 Minutes during the Idea Market on Friday afternoon. It's an informal roundtable where I can answer your videoblogging questions and show you how it's easy for anyone to capture and share fleeting moments.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

To get this shot, I followed these instructions from Glenn at BostonNOW:

With slow shutter try some panning with moving objects.Shutter about 15th sec. Lens greater than 50mm is best. Have subject moving from left to right (or right to left). You stay stationary and pivot your body with the subject. Snap shutter in middle of "twist".

"I chose to tell this story because I wanted the community I spent three years growing to know that I didn’t leave on a whim. As sad and embarrasing as it is to tell, I put the truth out there because my personal and professional credibility is on the line."

"Ever go to a conference, take a bunch of photos and recordings, and wonder about fair use and all that? I have. Here’s an idea to help make the flow of information more simple - give away free armbands to let people opt into the kind of coverage they want to experience. I’ve made a sample PDF with 3 levels of Creative Commons licensure - non-consent, consent for non commercial use, and consent for commercial use. Print one out and wear it at the next conference or event you attend!"

"When advertising executives saw a video of Boston theremin player Jon Bernhardt performing the old Buggles song ‘‘Video Killed the Radio Star’’ on YouTube, the MIT math grad was headhunted for the White Castle fast-food chain’s new advertising campaign."

The problem, once again, is that the Boston Globe does not provide links to the video that's the main part of the story.

What's ironic is that after a 30 minute interview with the reporter, the quote they chose to use, is now out of context.

John Wilpers, editor in chief of BostonNow, a free weekday daily introduced last month, said he wanted to fill the paper with items that local bloggers submitted to the BostonNow Web site... Also appealing to bloggers is that they retain ownership of their submissions even after printing. They have not, however, received money from the paper for their work.

Last week, BostonNow ran a post and photograph by Steve Garfield, who has been blogging for a decade, now at stevegarfield.com. He said cash payments would be nice, but he planned to contribute even if that did not happen. “The whole thing I do in blogging is to get seen, get visibility,” he said.

That quote answers the question of how do you make money by blogging for free. It's an answer I often give that says my blog ends up being a promotional vehicle for my consulting and video production business.

It IS NOT the main reason for my blogging.

I blog for fun, fulfillment, and friends. Friends I have, and friends I haven't met yet.

The visibility comes as a byproduct of doing what I love.

It would be nice if reporters would let interviewees proofread articles. I have had reporters let me do a technical edit on a piece, but when I ask if I can review a story before they publish, they usually can't do that.

It would also be nice if the NY Times had an area for comments... They don't.

In the end, BostonNOW is a step in the right direction. They let bloggers write articles and submit photos AND they allow comments on every story.

Tired of burning your fingers when taking hot dishes out of the microwave? Well, those days are over.

Now with the Microwave Oven Finger Protector, you can easily remove hot dishes without getting burned. Just place the Microwave Oven Finger Protector under the dish PRIOR to heating. Then when heating is completed, remove dish by handling only the Microwave Oven Finger Protector.

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About Me

Steve is a Social Media Traveler. Companies, brands, and destinations send my wife and I on trips in hopes that we will publicly share our experiences via social media. Examples include opening festivities for the Hermitage Club and traveling with GMC to the Super Bowl. (Go Pats!) We are available for more branded experience trips.